Contest Results

We had another outstanding contest at L&B's on Saturday. There were a total of 45 contestants in 9 different divisions. It took us about 3 hours to get through all of the contestants, and The Chris Talley Trio also played for the first half hour to start everything off.

Many thanks to all the people who helped us out! First of all, L&B's donated -- FREE OF CHARGE -- the hall for the entire day. The Hall Family provided the stage background decorations and even put them up for us. Diane and Nikki decorated all of the tables. Verlan, Marilyn, Liz and Zane helped out at the doors. Andy folded all of the numbers that the contestants had to draw for playing order. Carla took care of the scorekeeping, and Igg and Bill did all of the judging. Terry & Denny provided the wood for the trophies from old cedar telephone poles. Earl spent hours cutting them out. There were many other behind the scenes helpers, and to all of you, THANK YOU!!!!

Here are the results:

Junior II Fiddle (12 & Under)
(Total of 14 contestants in this division!)
1st - Paige Johnson
2nd - Rosemary Hall
3rd - Amelia Eisenhauer
4th - Colton Dever
5th - Jodi Frey

Junior I Fiddle (13-17 Years)
1st - Rachel Neel
2nd - Charlie Hall
3rd - Jake Hammel
4th - Alex Skurat

Adult Beginner Fiddle
1st - Liz Durako
2nd - Dennis Huebner
3rd - Sylvia Mills

Open Fiddle (18 & Over)
1st - Brian Smyth
2nd - Chelsea Perkinson
3rd - Fred Pringle
4th - Tim Dever

Senior Fiddle (60 & Over)
1st - Andy Talley
2nd - John Bell
3rd - Ron Dailey
4th - John Barnett

Junior Banjo (15 & Under)
1st - Nikki Warnecke
2nd - Emily Hall
3rd - Luke Worthington
4th - Jeremy Morris
5th - Josh Dolan

Adult Beginner Banjo
1st - Larry Reuss
2nd - Bobby Napier
3rd - Jana Fett

Open Banjo (16 & over)
1st - Justin Robbins
2nd - Brian Smyth
3rd - Jake Hammel
4th - Terry Hill

Senior Banjo (60 & over)
1st - Verlan Vielweber
2nd - Larry Maxwell
3rd - John Bell

Thank You E-mail

I received this nice e-mail today regarding our October 2008 fiddle contest:

Hi Chris & the Bluegrass Shack!
Thanks so much for hosting the Fiddle & Banjo Contest last Saturday! Our son, Jeremy, participated in your banjo contest for the juniors. He loved it! We came across your web-site for this contest and Jeremy insisted on attending. Contests for this age division are far and few. We are pleased to know that you are carrying on the tradition to the younger generation.

Jeremy was so proud to wear his medal to school to show his teachers and friends. He is also very proud of the historic banjo trophy. He was asking questions about how they would make it on the way home. What a heirloom for him! Thanks to the person who worked so hard on cutting these out!

Unfortunately, we weren't able to stay for all of the divisions but thoroughly enjoyed the juniors.

Jeremy loves Bluegrass Music and wishes to attend next year if you host one......and as he says, "I want to stay for all of it."

Thanks so much!
Brian & Robin

Old Time Fiddle Playing

This is my dad, Andy Talley, playing Missouri old-time fiddle style. We recorded these right in the shop...and by the way, dad is 82 years old and still playing strong!

Hey! My Bow Broke!

Proper bow care is crucial to having a long-lasting relationship with your fiddle bow. It is so easy to tap the tip on the floor or accidentally drop the bow. Bow tips are very fragile and can crack or break pretty easily. That is even true of carbon bows -- and sometimes more true of carbon bows than wood bows. Carbon bows usually have metal rods in them that end near the tip, so the bow is more likely to break at the tip than at any other place. Sometimes you won't even know that you damaged the bow because it doesn't break at the time you drop it. Maybe you have just weakened it and there are no noticeable cracks at the time. Kids sometimes play with bows like they are swords, or they may absent-mindedly tap the tip or end on the floor over and over again. Bows that break generally are not repaired. If the bow is expensive enough, then it may warrant a repair; however, they are never the same again!!! :o(

Saw Dust Everywhere!

Earl has been busy making all the trophies for this Saturday's contest. The fiddle & banjo trophies are made out of cedar this time. We owe a big thank-you to Denny and Terry for providing us with the cedar. The only good thing about cedar dust EVERYWHERE is that it smells really good!!!!

Reminder: Fiddle & Banjo Contest This Saturday!

Just a reminder to everyone that our annual October Fiddle & Banjo Contest is this weekend. Hope to see you there. For more information, follow this link: http://thebluegrassshack.blogspot.com/2008/08/oct-25-fiddle-banjo-contest.html

Advanced Instructional Jam

The advanced jam class is really doing great. We have been working on Red Haired Boy, Fox on the Run, Rocky Top, Foggy Mountain Breakdown and Old Joe Clark. We also played three tunes that no one in the class had played before and everyone had the opportunity to take breaks on these songs. It is meant to be just like a regular jam session without the pressure -- and with the ability to ask as many questions as you want afterwards! We are going to add Jerusalem Ridge, Salt Creek, and several more vocals to our reportoire soon. I am waiting for requests from the participants. Tonight's class included Verlan, Larry M., Larry R., Gary, Denny, Earl, Amelia, Christine, John, Emily, Rosemary, Kabbie, Charlie, and Nick. At the beginning of class, Rosemary, Larry R. and Charlie played for the class the tunes that they will be playing in the fiddle & banjo contest this weekend. Great job everyone!!!